The basic premise of this book is relatively simple- what if someone figured out a way to find everybody’s DNA-designated soulmate and made it into a dating service? What would that do to relationships? What would that do to married couples who decide to see if they really are meant to be? How sure could you be that your match was actually the real deal?
The One explores this through the lives of several individuals as they use the service. There’s the engaged couple who wants to reaffirm that they are happy/perfect for each other. There’s the lonely young woman who gets matched and pines for someone she’s only seen via social media because he never bothered to contact her who ends up getting attached to his family instead. There’s the girl who’s been in a long term relationship with her match for about a year, but never seen him face to face because they live a continent apart. And there’s the serial killer who decides to use the match program to find his next victim.
That’s where the book grabbed me and really didn’t let go. All of the relationships I described above have their own twists and turns and intrigues (it’s not just sappy longing and love all the way, believe me). But when I realized the book was going to look at a sociopathic serial killer who signs up to find his match on a lark- and is paired with a cop- I was hooked. If the match claims are true, they are soulmates. And he’s performing the very murders she’s investigating.
This book is a lot of fun. I can see why Netflix is making it a series- I’d watch it! I don’t want to describe any more, because the twists and turns are great, and trying to guess where things are going is half the fun. Just try it out. I don’t think you’ll regret it.